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Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide

This guide was created as an overview of the Linux Operating System, geared toward new users as an exploration tour and getting started guide, with exercises at the end of each chapter.
For more advanced trainees it can be a desktop reference, and a collection of the base knowledge needed to proceed with system and network administration. This book contains many real life examples derived from the author's experience as a Linux system and network administrator, trainer and consultant. They hope these examples will help you to get a better understanding of the Linux system and that you feel encouraged to try out things on your own.

First off, what my goal here is, is to be able to turn on my Linux box, maybe type a few commands here and there, nothing much (preferably nothing), turn on my box running the other OS, do what ever I have to do, and be able to sit at my box running that other OS and seem as though I'm sitting at the Linux box.

Now, from what I've read, and I've read a ton, is that I have to have an X server running on the box that runs that other OS and then some form of an X client running on the Linux box.

So I was pointed to cygwin as a open source (free) alternative to the commercial X servers (going for over $100). Ok, did that. Downloaded it. Installed it. Installed the X11R6 stuff. Okay, run the startxwin.bat file, yep, get the BASH window, type the prescribed /usr/X11R6/bin/xhost ip.number.here, yep, okay, then type the /usr/bin/telnet ip.host.here ....bzz...gong....get a blank screen. In-fact, I don't even see telnet in that folder.

Here's my hunch...I have no idea what I'm doing.

Here's my second hunch...I need to start something on the Linux box. I'm running Redhat 8.0. Telnet and SSH have been started.

you don't want cygwin for that, vnc is a much better choice... you'll get linux's X server running in a window. but i think there's an option to make it run full screen.... i'd suggest using tightvnc as it's got encryption and compression methods to make it run faster over your network

If I understand you, you want to see the output of your linux box while working on a windows box. Then the X server should be on the linux box, not the windows one! That's what you've got mixed up. But indeed tightvnc might just be the answer you're looking for.

If you want to chek that telnet is running properly, try to telnet from a command promt in XP, instead of Cygen's bash shell.

Start > Run > cmd

telnet <ip.host.here>

if you can connect through that, then you may have to make sure cygen actually installed telnet, and if not find a way to get it reinstalled (i.e. install telnet client yourself or go through the whole re-install process for Cygen)

also, on your linux box, as a test, turn off iptables (service iptables stop) and see if this works. If you had set up a firewall, RedHat 8 sets up some very closed rules by default.

Now, after all that, as someone who's used both Cygen and TightVNC, I would recommend the VNC route. It's a lot easier to use and setup. Download and install the server rpm on your linux box, get the client for XP, on the linux box, type vncserver and it will come back with a port #. start the XP client, enter <ip.host.name.here>:<vncport#>
just as easy as that :-)

I installed the server on the linux box, stopped iptables (don't know if I had to do this...too much of a noob to understand iptables totally), fired up vncserver, saw that it was on port 1.

Installed vncviewer/server on the xp machine, started up the viewer, typed in the LAN address of the machine with the port number, logged in using the password I setup when executing vncserver on th elinux box, and then a blank, black and white screen came up with the little "X" as the pointer. That was as far as I could get.

Any thoughts on this?

Btw, thanks again. To get this far with tightVNC was way easier than cygwin was.

First, after doing some reading, I started up the vncserver using the "vncserver -name box -geometry 1024x768" and up it went, fine, just like before.
I then went to the xp box, started up putty, connected to 192.168.1.101 and bingo, I'm in a bash terminal.

First, what happened to the black and white window with the "X" mouse pointer?

And i looked at the ~/.vnc/xstartup file, and this is what I got...

exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc

...uh, okay.

I didn't find anything at tightVNC or at VNC websites that was any help in this. I'm a REAL NOOB so maybe it might be obvious, but poop, it ain't obvious to me.

I did find some, what appeard to be good, info HERE ...but again, no silver bullet.

ok so that xstartup will just attempt to run the system default. have a look what that xinitrc file says. maybe it just doens't list a window manager at all, more likely though it's running twm which is disgusting. you'd be fine to just replace that line with "exec yourfavouritewindowmanager" and it should load find next time when you load vncserver

So, part of me feels kind of dumb here. After I posted that last message of mine, I googled every possible combination I could think of and found a very detailed description of setting up VNCserver and WinNT to talk to each other. However, it was written in broken english and still left some holes.

After reading that, I when and looked at /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc file, and there was a bunch of stuff there that I couldn't read. It seemed to me that I should be able to change the ~/.vnc/xstartup file to not go over to xinitrc but rather just start something I wanted.

So I changed xstartup, and changed again, and changed, and changed. My main problem is that I'm such a noob that I don't really know what the syntax is. Anyway, I got the "black and white screen with the "X" mouse pointer" to turn to a solid grey backround with the "X" mouse pointer...but that's about it.

I tried
exec gnome-session

and
gnome-session &

and
/usr/bin/gnome-session

and
exec /usr/bin/gnome-session

and...
and I think you get the point.

And btw, irish_rover, I realized I had been stupid enough to connect through putty and not vncviewer. That was probably the low point after I posted that message and realized what I was doing.

Anway, I will say the help here has gotten me further that I would have ever done on my own. Thanks for the help, and as always, any more help would be appreciated.

When I turn on the linux box, the graphical login screen comes up. I log in, and up starts gnome...kind of like starting that other OS that is out there.

I don't have to start up gnome from the command line if that's what you're asking.

Which brings me to another question I was thinking about. Is there a problem with running gnome on the linux box and then trying to get gnome to run through the tightVNC connection? What I mean to ask is it seems like the linux box would have to be running two sessions of gnome...can it do that...or am I off here?

The "~/" represents the "home" directory for the user, if I'm not mistaken (some one correct me here if I'm wrong). In my case, it's the root user that installed the tightVNC stuff, so the xstartup file was created in the root's home directory under the .vnc directory.